Skin tear concern

Hello, I have had my bp for a few months and up till now everything has been great, eats regularly, perfect sheds and very gentle. I noticed today after it's shed a few spots of blood on the paper towel, I looked closer and there is a skin tear about 1/4" long and you can see the flesh. I have always been very careful to make sure there is nothing in the cage to hurt hiim. There are no sharp corners or any in the cage I can see that would have caused a tear. Could the skin tear have happened due too a bad shed ? The humidity level is at 55 %. I was thinking if getting some repti aid, I saw it at a pet store and was wondering if it would be ok to apply ? The area doesn't seem to be infected, it's not swollen or red. Any help would be appreciated.

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Originally Posted by kansasjeffff

Hello, I have had my bp for a few months and up till now everything has been great, eats regularly, perfect sheds and very gentle. I noticed today after it's shed a few spots of blood on the paper towel, I looked closer and there is a skin tear about 1/4" long and you can see the flesh. I have always been very careful to make sure there is nothing in the cage to hurt hiim. There are no sharp corners or any in the cage I can see that would have caused a tear. Could the skin tear have happened due too a bad shed ? The humidity level is at 55 %. I was thinking if getting some repti aid, I saw it at a pet store and was wondering if it would be ok to apply ? The area doesn't seem to be infected, it's not swollen or red. Any help would be appreciated.

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No it would not cause a injury in the flesh by a bad shed.I would give your enclosure a extra close look over or it could be from a rodent bite(if you feed live).The repti aid is for helping shed.I used neosporin for injuries before and keep it cleaned.

Skin splitting, although pretty uncommon, is usually caused by long-term malnutrition, followed by a larger meal that wouldn't normally cause any problems. If it is only 1/4" long, there is not any real need for concern for the wound, just apply topical antibiotic. I would suggest smaller meals for a while until it heals up, and to give it a chance to recover from a probable poor diet before you got it.

-Evan

if there is any puffiness, swelling, or redness under the skin or the appearance of liquid under the skin take your snake to a vet asap. the same applies if the cut is oozing a clearish, pinkish fluid as opposed to actual blood. this is a sign of infection and should be treated quickly. otherwise, keep the enclosure and wound clean and dab with neosporin or triple antibiotic ointment as has been mentioned.